What readers think of The Sea, plus links to write your own review.

Taking place at a seaside resort in Ireland, this Booker Prize-winning novel by John Banville is as much about time—past, present, and future—as it is about the sea. It's about memories of the past, the tricks and ravages of those memories, the ache of the present, and the hope of the future.

Mourning the death of his wife, Anna, middle-aged Max Morden is besieged with memories of a summer spent by the sea. While his family stayed in a rundown three-room cottage with an outhouse and no electricity, Max made friends the summer he was 11 years old with the Grace family and their twin children Chloe and Myles, who were staying in a beautiful home called the Cedars. Max thought of the family as divinities, godlike. But that summer was not idyllic in the least. Something horrific happened, which is driving Max to ruminate on it half a century later. Now as a grieving widower, these memories are so vivid that they entice him to return to the sea and stay in the Cedars, which has become a rooming house.

This short, brilliantly-written novel explores the facets of grief, the meaning of memory, the fear of death, and hope for the future. The writing, which is close to stream of consciousness (but not quite), is exquisite with almost every sentence shining like a sparkling gem.

This is a cerebral book. There is no fast-paced plot, no twists and turns that will keep you reading past your bedtime. Instead, it should be read slowly and savored for its subtle message and insightful meaning.